Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-03-18
AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE.
It's Horrors Recalled-Rm. J. HAYNES
Describes the Work of the Steam
ship Grampus.
How White Girls Were Battered to Chiefs
for Sh1p.LOads of Native Afri-
cans
st. Louis Republican

ing them 10 planters in New Orleans"
How din you get possession of the
negroes to bring them over?"
81 will tell you how we generally man
aged, and We always had a good load on
our return trip. You know in those days,
fifty or sixty years ago, the servan t
girls in the south were OF very ordinary
and worthless kind and would do most
anything. Many of them had no home
and few, If any, friends, and so no one
noticed their departure. The captain of
the ship Grampus would induce q number
OF these girls TO go on board as servants,
and when we reached the coast Of Africa We
would cast anchor and the captain and his
men would have the boats lowered az 20
ashore. They would soon ascertain
where the chief or head man of the tribe
| lived, and then they would take one or two
OF tine girls ashore with them and pay a visit
to the head Of the savage tribe The
girls were always willing to go and See
the county, and when they reached the
African chief they were made an article Of
merchandise just as were the trinkets
that We carried over with them. The
captain would negotiate by signs when no
| interpreter could be had, and the savage
chief most always was
CHARMED WITH THE WHITE GIRLS,
and was possessed Of 8 strong desire to
! have them remain. He would give them
all kinds of presents and make much ado
over them, and it was by taking advan-
| tage of this weakness that the captain was
almost always successful in bartering
| them TO him for as many negroes of his
tribe as he could carry way. Sometimes
! ba no tn lla r-yn Dir ba
brought back very large number of Afri-
cans"
| "These girls were then forced to stay.
were lhey?'
! "Ihere was always more or less STRAIT
/ egg used, and they generally consented tC
remain until the snip returned. Through
/ the 0Yertures Cf the chief. and the assur-
anCe that everything the country afforded
would be at their command, and partly
through the threats OF the captain, and
MS promises TO return, they generally re-
mliued, seemingly content TO wait for our
retura, but alWays waited in vain. We
would make up our lOaG Of sIaYes, turn
ing a certain number Of them in each
evening, and storing them securely in the
hold, and, by repeating this each day, We
would, win the chiefs help soon get as
many as we cared 10 sail with. They
Were never ObsireperOUs, and seemed
perfectly content IS long as tdey got
plenty to eat, and were Joyous il their
DarbariC conversations in the ships hold
Occasionally one would die and
we would throw him into the sea,
and then the others would make strange
signs and motions. | think they WUr-
shipped the sun and moon when in their
own country"
tsHIP LOAD OF AFRICANS FOR TWO GIRLS
"And could you get 3 ship-l0ad OF
negroes for TWO servant giTls?"
eyes, sir; that's what we did. OF
course, there were more or less trinkets
given, but we never hoped to accomplish
anything until we had made peace with
the chief of the tribe, and this could
most always be done with two girls. We
never left more than three with the head
of tribe"
"What kind of slaves did you prefer TO
bring oyer?"
ave always picked for the young bucks,
say from seventeen % twenty years Old.
We also brought a number of females
about the same age. My! what scent
would come up from the hold OF the ship
when the hatChWay was raised 1t would
almost knock man backwards. We
frequently brought them all up on deck, bUt
when storm came they would drop back
to the hold in On instant, at the wave of d
white hand. They were very obedent,
and / never knew one to show any iGCliEa
ton to De otherwise"
"What report would you give on your
return to America of those girls who went
out with your"
"They were, as rule, never inquired
after, but on one occasion q girl whom
we left happened to belong TO q pretty
good family, and when we returned 70
New Orleans her friends were On hand to
meet her, and when she did not sppear
they besOught the captain eagerly as to
what had become Of her. He informed
them that she had preferred to remain in
the sunny land until the good ship re-
turned. This did not at all satisfy them,
aud they pushed their inquiries day and |
night until they learned the truth, and |
Captain Johnson (for this was his name) |
was in danger of being mOb0ed, when he |
quietly set sail one evening and passed |
down the river and out through the gulf !
aud l
NEVER HEARD OF HIM AFTERWARD. > !
"Then you did not return to African"
'NO, 1t was just at this time that had |
first steamboat ever run on the Lower |
Mississippi, and l accepted it."
"When you were in the slave trade did |
you ever return to the place from where !
you secured your previous cargo?"
''No, indeed: we would always 90 TO |
some other point, but We heard afterward |
that the girls left there did much good for |
the natives, teaching them to sew, cook |
and do housewUrk."
"Did the Africans have any idea at the |
time that they were being sold into
slavery"
''Not the slightest. They thought from
the signs that had been made to them
that they were coming to q place where
all was lovely; where the sun shone |
brighter and the moon looked larger, and
to eat tropical fruits would be their chief
employment. Sad, indeed, must they
have felt when they began to r-alize that
they had been sold into slavery from
which it was as impossible for them to
extricate themselves as i! would be to
change the color of their own skin"
Glow many slaves did you bring to
America in all?''
81 kept no record of this myself, but
on one occasion l remember we'll we had |
1000 on board and we landed them
safely in New Orleans. They were all
sold in less than week. We brought
six ship-loads over during the three years
l was with the ship and l suppose the
total number would be
AT LEAST SEVEN THOUSAND"
"Where were they kep- in New Orleans
until they were sold?"
"They were taken TO what was known
as the negro pen, which was sn Enclosure
where LARGO shed was huilt In this n